This invention relates to pacifiers used by infants and to a method of manufacture of the article.
Within the prior art, a number of pacifier-like devices are known. These nipple-like devices have been used for many years to allow infants to suck, teeth and the like or otherwise satisfy their oral requirements. A host of different designs and configurations are known, typified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 722,350, 2,462,786, 3,267,937, 3,669,112 and 3,825,014. Devices of this type are subject to manufacture in very large numbers, and given general price competition for baby toys and the like, economies of manufacture on an individual basis translate to large advantages in the marketplace.
Moreover, in recent years, various governmental agencies have set forth regulations and criteria governing the specifications for baby and children's toys. Paramount in this regulatory process is the requirement that such toys be made in such a fashion that when in use, they will not dissassemble or otherwise break such that small component parts could be ingested or have sharp protruding edges. Hence, agencies such as the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission have set forth standards which require that certain types of toys obtain their approval prior to marketing. Those standards generally reflect the need for increased safety of a particular unit to insure that under normal or even abnormal modes of operation, the toy will be safe.
The criteria for safety in toys is particularly stringent with respect to those devices used by infants. Because infants have a tendency to indiscriminately use and destroy their toys, such items must be built with an exceptionally rugged mode of construction. Moreover, because infants have a strong tendency to place objects in their mouths, toys adapted for infant use must be devoid of any sharp edges or, just as importantly, tendencies to break down into small components which could be swallowed by such infants.
Hence, although a variety of pacifiers are known, research still continues to improve this widely-used infant toy to provide more satisfactory results in terms of economy of manufacture and safety while in use. Various prior art devices, while showing various pacifier designs, are not satisfactory when measured against current criteria for safety and ease of manufacture. Typical is U.S. Pat. No. 3,669, 112 which shows the construction of a one-piece pacifier nipple, shield and adapter piece. While those items are shown in the patent as being molded as a unitary item, the ring or holder must be separately attached and affixed to the pacifier nipple. Hence, in actual production, the resulting pacifier contains at least two discrete components which are susceptible to separation and giving rise to the attendant risks of injury by the user. A host of prior art devices exhibit this tendency, which has now been deemed to be unsatisfactory for current use.
A second type of pacifiers typified by U.S. Pat. No. 3,825,014 which constitutes a one-piece injected molded device made of a flexible plastic material, while injection molding is a common form of manufacture, holes or other complex three-dimensional shapes are not readily manufactured. Also, in injection molding, the choice of materials is generally limited to plastics materials which are susceptible to break down, discoloration and the like. Clearly, for infant use, the preferred choice of materials is a latex rubber type of device which is soft and pliable as opposed to a flexible plastic which, under some conditions, may be susceptible to cracking or breaking. Also, in the case of injection molding, economies of manufacture are not readily obtainable in view of the waste normally associated with that type of manufacture.